I am Emperor Shizu of Song

Chapter 143 Using the Shifting Stars and the Butterfly Effect

"My dear brother, how have you been? This expedition to Japan took some time, but the result was quite good, wasn't it?"

One day in early August, when Yue Fei led his army back to port and docked at Busan Port, he saw Zhao Zicheng, dressed in light robes and loose belt, personally welcoming the army back from their expedition at the dock.

Yue Fei dared not delay. Before the warship's planks were even in place, he leaped onto the dock in his armor and bowed to Zhao Zicheng.

"This humble general has lived up to his mission! After this battle, the bandits on all the major islands in the outer sea of ​​Kyushu have been wiped out! Although it took a few days, it was mainly to avoid the strong winds and not to go out to sea rashly on stormy days."

As Yue Fei spoke, he gave a brief report on the battle results.

After these two years of intermittent actions, in addition to the aforementioned Tsushima Island and Iki Island, the Goto Islands off the coast of Nagasaki also fell into the hands of the Song Dynasty.

Furthermore, the Dazaifu, the government of the Heian period in Japan responsible for ruling the Kyushu region, dared not offer any resistance and tacitly accepted everything. Clearly, they had no control over those pirate clans to begin with.

As an aside, the five islands northeast of Kyushu were later occupied by pirates from the Central Plains. For example, the notorious Ming Dynasty pirate Wang Zhi was from the Central Plains. Wang Zhi occupied the five islands for many years until he was recruited and killed by Hu Zongxian. For decades, the local daimyo of Japan maintained peaceful relations with him. (Hu Zongxian's original intention was only to offer amnesty, but after the recruitment, he no longer had complete control; it was Wang Bengu, the then governor of Zhejiang, who directly killed Wang Zhi.)
So in the past two years, Yue Fei shaved the heads of all the major islands off the coast of Kyushu, and the Japanese had nothing to say. In any case, maritime trade with Goryeo became even more prosperous. With fewer middlemen taking a cut, the Japanese court also made more money. People of this era would not care about remote islands that were already beyond their actual control.

However, Yue Fei's habit of sailing cautiously and waiting a few more days for better weather to avoid the wind was very good. Zhao Zicheng nodded repeatedly after hearing this and praised him for his prudent actions.

Summer and autumn are the peak seasons for typhoons in the East China Sea and the entire western Pacific coast. It would be bad if we encountered a "divine wind" or something similar.

Now that Yue Fei had passed the "divine wind" test, he had gained some understanding of both naval and land warfare, and had also experienced cavalry, infantry, and artillery combat, making him quite knowledgeable. Although all the battles he fought in the past two years were small in scale, and he never led more than one or two thousand troops, he had been exposed to various types of battles, and through this ability to draw inferences from one instance to another, he made very rapid progress.

"My dear brother, you truly have the potential to be a great general of the past. Although you are a hero of Hebei, you have also dabbled in naval warfare and artillery battles. Your future is limitless!" Zhao Zicheng patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction to show his encouragement.

"It is all thanks to the Duke's patronage and kindness that I can never repay." Yue Fei gratefully cupped his hands in thanks. Although he had become quite familiar with Zhao Zicheng in the past two years, and Zhao Zicheng genuinely treated him as a brother, he still couldn't help but feel deeply grateful and dared not overstep his bounds in the slightest.

After expressing his gratitude, Yue Fei couldn't help but feel ashamed: "The Duke is so busy with state affairs, yet he still came to Busan to receive the triumphant returnee for such a trivial matter. I am truly ashamed."

Zhao Zicheng, too lazy to be coy, laughed heartily: "What do I mean by being busy with countless affairs of state? My dear brother, have you forgotten that I am still in mourning and living in seclusion? I can go anywhere, and I don't need to worry about government affairs! Come on, it's been months since we last met. This afternoon, let's have a martial arts match and see if my skills have deteriorated after being in Japan for a few months!"

Yue Fei: "These past few months I've been distracted by other things, so naturally I haven't made as much progress as you, Duke."

Yue Fei wasn't wrong; looking at the last three months alone, his progress has indeed been smaller. But that doesn't diminish the fact that he made great progress and built a stronger foundation over the previous year.

After a welcoming banquet and a short rest, Zhao Zicheng and Yue Fei engaged in a fierce battle in the afternoon, each wielding a wooden spear and sword. Perhaps Yue Fei was exhausted from his long journey and the previous continuous travel had worn down his innate strength, leaving him in poor condition.

However, Zhao Zicheng has been completely focused on his studies for the past three months, and no woman has affected his progress. He has even managed to fight Yue Fei to a draw.

It seems that in the past few months, Zhao Zicheng has benefited greatly from having his father-in-law accompany him in sparring at the Kaesong Royal Palace, and from his father-in-law spending a lot of time helping him to unblock his meridians.

Of course, there is no such thing as the Northern Darkness Divine Skill or any unscientific "transmission of power" in this world. However, it is still possible for a senior who is skilled in breathing techniques and has a profound foundation to help inject energy into the meridians and acupoints, thus helping to unblock the meridians and make the breathing and energy training of martial arts practitioners more effective.

If we strictly analyze it from a scientific point of view, the Northern Darkness Divine Art is obviously less scientific than time travel. After all, even hard science fiction has its own hierarchy of disdain for various unscientific things.

Time travel only requires violating Einstein's set of scientific laws, while the Northern Darkness Divine Art would violate the second law of thermodynamics. Back in the day, the renowned science communicator Carl Sagan categorized various forms of unscientific thinking, arguing that those who believed in perpetual motion machines and those who believed in violating the second law of thermodynamics were more ignorant and less sophisticated than those who believed in time travel and those who doubted Einstein.

Even someone who humbles themselves to write a time-travel novel might not be as humble as someone who writes about the Northern Darkness Divine Art or innate true qi.

Even if we were to forcibly establish the existence of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, its efficiency in absorbing internal energy from people with low internal energy to those with high internal energy would not break through the efficiency limit of the ideal model of the Carnot Reverse Cycle.

With Zhao Zicheng having improved his skills and Yue Fei exhausted, the two fought fiercely for two or three hundred moves. Initially, Zhao Zicheng was slightly at a disadvantage, but he quickly adjusted his state, trying his best to use the opponent's own methods against him and the Mani Displacement Technique to deal with the situation.

As it turned out, both of them were taught by the same master, so they couldn't break each other's moves at all. They both had the characteristics of "low attack and high defense" and were good at counter-attacking. The entanglement quickly turned into a contest of endurance, and in the end, it could only end in a draw.

"The Duke's martial arts are becoming increasingly refined and profound. His diligent progress over the past few months is truly admirable." Yue Fei knew that it might take a long time to determine a winner, so he decided to step out of the fight at the last minute and concede a draw.

Zhao Zicheng also put away his wooden sword: "How can I not strive for improvement? I am currently in mourning and still hold the title of Honglu Temple. Apart from Zhao Liangsi, I am second in rank in the Honglu Temple. In this turbulent time, how can I not make preparations?"

Wanyan Wuqimai captured Emperor Tianzuo of Liao in early summer. Given the Jurchens' wolfish ambitions, they will likely be restless after the autumn harvest. It's just unknown which easy target they will target first.

When Zhao Zicheng said these words, his anxiety about the unknown and uncertain was absolutely heartfelt.

Although he knew history, and knew that in the original history, after the Jin Dynasty completely destroyed the Liao Dynasty, in the first autumn, it chose to attack the Northern Song Dynasty.

However, history has been altered to some extent by the butterfly effect. Historically, Goryeo should have been internally stable at this point, and the Jurchens would naturally not have attacked Goryeo first, given that Goryeo had no weaknesses to exploit.

But Goryeo has been drastically changed by Zhao Zicheng. Who knows how the Jin people will reassess Goryeo? Or perhaps, the Jin people will be wary of Western Xia or even the remnants of the Liao Dynasty who have just fled west?

International relations are always prone to a chain reaction caused by changes in one country, which can easily trigger shifts in the balance of power.

Zhao Zicheng knew that he had to be careful and discreet until the end of autumn in October. For this reason, he had rarely appeared in public political settings in Kaesong since March or April of this year, after the Jin Dynasty completely destroyed the Liao Dynasty.

From that point on, Zhao Zicheng was to minimize his interference in the political situation of Goryeo. If the Jin Dynasty sent spies, he was to pretend that Goryeo's original ruling system was functioning well. After getting through this period, as long as the Song and Jin Dynasties started a war first, he could turn a blind eye to the rest.

……

Zhao Zicheng's low profile and concerns were not without reason.

Just as Zhao Zicheng was personally inspecting and welcoming Yue Fei's triumphant army in Busan with a small entourage,

There have indeed been more Jurchen spies and agents in Kaesong recently.

The fact that "a dramatic change occurred in Goryeo two years ago" could be kept secret from the Song Dynasty, which was separated by the sea, but it could not be completely kept secret from the Jin Dynasty, which was adjacent to Goryeo by land.

At the time, the Jin state didn't pay much attention, simply because Wanyan Aguda had just died and the Jin people were too busy with their own power transition. In the future, they would have to prioritize delivering the final blow to the Liao state.

So it wasn't until April of this year, when the Liao Dynasty was completely gone, that the Jin Dynasty began sending spies out in the last three or four months to gather information on the latest developments of the Song and Goryeo dynasties, trying to determine which of their neighboring countries was the easiest to deal with.

Of course, this kind of espionage was just a routine procedure and not targeted at any specific party. For example, the Jin Dynasty also sent spies to contact the Western Xia, and even more, because the Jin Dynasty had just completed diplomatic negotiations with the Western Xia, prohibiting the Western Xia from sheltering and harboring Emperor Tianzuo of Liao. As is well known, diplomatic missions have always been the best way to smuggle high-ranking spies into enemy territory and make contact with the enemy's high-ranking officials.

Therefore, the Jin people had the clearest understanding of the current situation of Western Xia, and thus they were the first to discover that there was no opportunity to take advantage of Western Xia. Even if they fought hard, there would be no benefit, and it would only reduce the pressure on the Song Dynasty.

The Jin Dynasty also sent regular missions to the Song Dynasty and Goryeo. The reason for these missions was simple: to inform the countries that "the Liao Dynasty has been completely destroyed by us, and Emperor Tianzuo of Liao has been captured by us."

Through these missions, the Jin Dynasty became even more certain of the Song Dynasty's weakness and superficiality. They also discovered that the person who received the Jin envoy from Goryeo was indeed King Wang Kai of Goryeo, a sixteen-year-old boy, but the identity of the important minister next to him was clearly a bit off.

The Jin people felt it necessary to investigate further, so after the messenger left, they left behind some civilian spies to continue their reconnaissance.

When Zhao Zicheng left, although he kept a low profile, he must have taken some of the guards from Kaicheng with him, as well as a few generals who originally belonged to the Liangshan faction. These troop movements could not escape the notice of the Jin spies.

One day in early August, a group of capable Jurchen and Bohai people gathered in a merchant's residence in Kaesong to plot a new mission.

"Yesterday, we discovered that the palace guards patrolling Songaksan were at least several hundred fewer than the day before, and the same is true today. It's certain that someone important has left Gaeseong to meet up with the Goryeo navy that previously quelled the pirates. The defenses at Songaksan Palace must have been relatively lax these past few days. This is a golden opportunity to find out who is controlling Wang Kai and turning the mighty Goryeo king into a puppet. We have been here for over half a month under the orders of the Second Prince (Nianhan/Wanyan Zonghan) to investigate the inner workings of Goryeo's political situation. If we don't act now, how can we achieve great merit?"

A general in his forties was analyzing the situation with his subordinates, assigning tasks, and discussing the pace of the operation. He seemed to have a good overall perspective and was willing to take a big gamble.

This man was named Han Qinghe. He was originally a Han Chinese general of the Liao Dynasty. After the Jin Dynasty captured Nanjing, the capital of Liao, most of the Han generals in Yan and Yun scattered and surrendered to different masters. For example, Guo Yaoshi and others surrendered to the Song Dynasty. Han Qinghe's character and resume are similar to Guo Yaoshi's. The main difference is that Han Qinghe chose to surrender to the Jin Dynasty.

Both Guo Yaoshi and Han Qinghe liked to recruit heroes from Yan and Yun. Guo Yaoshi's resentful army included the "Sixteen Riders of Yan and Yun", while Han Qinghe recruited more than fifty heroes and swordsmen from Yan and Zhao. All of these events are recorded in the "Compilation of the Northern Alliance of the Three Dynasties".

Throughout history, surrendered generals have always been the most eager to make a name for themselves. For example, Guo Yaoshi was one of the most active guides after surrendering to the Song and Jin dynasties. After surrendering to the Jin, Han Qinghe was assigned to garrison Xianzhou, which is close to Goryeo. Therefore, he was considered one of the most active members of the Jin state in provoking Goryeo and seeking opportunities for war.

Within the Jin state, there were many old-school generals who were already interested in Goryeo, such as Gao Zhen, a Liao general from Bohai who had surrendered three years earlier and advised the Jin ruler to take advantage of the situation to wage war against Goryeo. After Han Qinghe surrendered to the Jin, he and Gao Zhen had similar backgrounds, both being Liao generals who surrendered to the Jin and both wanting to make a name for themselves. Their garrison areas were also close, so they hit it off immediately.

However, Gao Zhen was not skilled in martial arts, nor did he keep chivalrous heroes, so he was unable to carry out such a secret mission himself. Therefore, he introduced Han Qinghe to the Second Prince Wanyan Zonghan.

Wanyan Zonghan was in charge of overall diplomatic intelligence in the Jin Dynasty, responsible for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of neighboring countries. Seeing the loyalty of Goryeo and Han, he allocated some resources and authorization to them to organize spies and investigate the true strength of Goryeo.

Gao Zhen, holding a higher position, was responsible for overseeing these operations from the rear in Baozhou. Han Qinghe, being less experienced, had to personally supervise and command from the front lines, venturing into dangerous areas.

The Jin people did not entrust Han Qinghe with the entire task, nor could they fully trust a surrendered general who had not yet distinguished himself. Instead, they assigned him a young, absolutely reliable Jurchen general and several Jurchen experts to assist and monitor him. However, the main infiltration and espionage would certainly be carried out by Han Qinghe's "fifty chivalrous swordsmen from Yan and Zhao," along with his several rather brave sons.

Over the past few days, Han Qinghe has roughly figured out some basic information. At least they have confirmed that Wang Kai is a puppet, and the person who is puppeting him must be from the Song Dynasty. Two years ago, Song Jiang, the Liangshan bandit who once caused a great disturbance in the south of Goryeo, has been out of contact since. It is unknown whether he was forced to surrender by the Song Dynasty's anti-piracy troops who crossed the sea to pursue him, or whether he was coerced by some other Han Chinese force.

In short, on the Goryeo side, Song Jiang, Wu Jialiang, Li Jun, and several civil officials who came from wealthy merchant families seemed to hold high positions and wield considerable power, and were quite capable of influencing the Goryeo court. In addition, some Han Chinese generals with little experience and unclear backgrounds seemed to have already controlled the Goryeo people's resistance. Any Goryeo locals who dared to resist would be swiftly annihilated.

In recent years, it seems that many Han Chinese migrants from Hebei have been relocated to Goryeo by maritime merchants to settle and cultivate land. Such large-scale actions at the level of people's livelihood could not escape the eyes of those who conducted in-depth investigations. Therefore, it can be confirmed that those mysterious maritime merchants held a very important position among the Han officials who were holding the Goryeo king hostage.

It seems that Goryeo's current situation is neither unstable nor opportunistic. The only thing the Great Kim can do is to thoroughly investigate the true mastermind behind the puppet king, or perhaps take something more radical.

After Han Qinghe assessed the current situation and analyzed the objectives of his actions, most of the people around him, including several Jurchen generals sent by the Jin dynasty to monitor him, agreed with him.

His son, Han Chang, was even more radical than him, and suddenly blurted out: "Even if we find out who is behind Wang Kai, what can we change? It's either that Hangzhou merchant named Wang Chengxun, or a few Suzhou merchants with the surnames Murong, Deng, or Zhao."

It's unbelievable how things have developed in Goryeo. These military figures, Song Jiang and Li Jun, who were originally bandits and pirates, clearly defeated the Goryeo army and kidnapped its king two years ago, yet they dare not directly command the other lords. Instead, they want a few maritime merchants to share power. Even if Goryeo is impoverished due to war and needs large sums of money and supplies from maritime merchants to sustain itself, it's absurd to allow merchants to establish a nation!

If you ask me, why don't we take a big gamble? Fortune favors the bold, and nothing ventured, nothing gained. We have so many heroes and warriors here. Why don't we look for any former Goryeo military officials in Gaegyeong who still yearn for their homeland? We can offer them high-ranking positions and generous salaries, get them to secretly cooperate with us, lift the palace restrictions, seize the opportunity to kidnap Wang Kai, and then break them up and take them to Baozhou.

"With the King of Goryeo in our hands, what does it matter if he's a puppet of the Han Chinese? The Great Jin will simply raise the banner of Wang Kai and return to Goryeo to quell the rebellion. The various Goryeo prefectures won't have any legitimate claim to the cause, and they'll be annihilated by the Great Jin's heavenly army in no time!"

Upon hearing his son's impulsive and radical plan, Han Qinghe hesitated to act rashly. He quickly turned to the Jurchen general responsible for monitoring him: "General Jiagu, what do you think? This is quite risky..."

The person he questioned was named Jiagu Xienu. He also brought a nephew named Jiagu Atuhan. The uncle and nephew participated in this operation together to monitor Han Qing, who was a surrendered general, and to prevent him from acting recklessly.

Jia Gu Xie Nu and Jia Gu Atu Han were both exceptionally brave generals. The former, nearly forty years old, was not only strong enough to lift a tripod, but could also shoot more than three hundred paces with a powerful bow, and also knew a bit about military strategy. His nephew, in his twenties, had fought bears and tigers and killed several tigers with his bare hands, but he was just a brute and knew nothing about military strategy.

Therefore, when Han Qinghe heard about his son's radical plan, he had to consult the Jurchens, even though the two Jurchens did not hold higher official positions than him.

As the most influential person present, Jia Gu Xie Nu, after a little consideration, also felt that it seemed impossible to gain much without taking some risks. Moreover, even if the adventure was approved, he wouldn't have to take the risk himself. If it succeeded, the benefits would be enormous. So why not take the gamble?

In any case, it was mainly Han Qing and his "heroic swordsmen of Yan and Zhao" who were Han warriors from the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun. Even if they all died, it wouldn't matter. The Great Jin Kingdom had no shortage of Han warriors and didn't rely on them. If they could prove themselves, it wouldn't be too late to reward and promote them in the future.

"Since General Han is so willing, he should figure out a method on his own and then tell me. Since the Second Prince has given you permission to act as you see fit, I will not stop you from making contributions."

Jia Gu Xie Nu has thus agreed in principle.

Han Qinghe had no choice but to follow the instructions and refine the plan, which took him a day or two.

To be honest, although this kind of operation looks dangerous, there are actually quite a few areas where you can leverage resources.

Han Qinghe quickly recruited several Goryeo generals who were absolutely loyal to Wang Kai and extremely dissatisfied with the status quo by secretly promising high-ranking official positions and wealth, and by inciting the Goryeo people's resentment over the kidnapping of their king.

This man was named Taku Jun-kyung, and he was considered a high-ranking official in Goryeo. In the original history, during the reign of King Injong of Goryeo, he was initially "held hostage by the powerful maternal relative Yi Ja-gyeom to command the ministers." However, as King Injong grew older, he wanted to seize power and rule in his own right. It was Taku Jun-kyung who helped him get rid of Yi Ja-gyeom (but Taku Jun-kyung did not hold power for long, and he was later dismissed and exiled by King Injong after he had served his purpose).

In this life, Lee Ja-gyeom was killed by Jo Ja-sung after only a few months in power, which can be considered a significant butterfly effect on the political situation in Goryeo. However, Tak Jun-kyung's motivation of serving King Wang Gae and incidentally making a fortune for himself has never changed.

To put it bluntly, Tuo Junjing is a person who is greedy and easily swayed by lofty ideals and justifications, making him easy to be taken advantage of by people with ulterior motives.

However, in this life, it was Han Qinghe, secretly sent by the Jin Kingdom, who was using him.

Han Qinghe had a secret meeting with Tuo Junjing and showed him a secret order from Wanyan Zonghan, a high-ranking official of the Jin Dynasty. He told him that as long as he was willing to help secretly get rid of Wang Kai and escape from Kaesong, and as long as he crossed the Daedong River to the north and entered the Jin-controlled area, he would be allowed to become the second most powerful person in the Goryeo region in the future.

Once the Great Jin Kingdom obtains the declaration, with the might of its army, taking over Goryeo will be a piece of cake, right? If you don't lead such a good path, who else do you expect Tuo Junjing to lead?
Tuo Junjing quickly agreed, blinded by greed. He felt that he was doing something righteous, that he was loyal to King Wang Kai, and that Song Jiang and the Han people who were chasing him were too despicable, taking advantage of the chaos to seize Goryeo.

What he is doing today is not treason, but saving the country. He is using the power of the Jurchens to help Goryeo restore its original order of a benevolent and peaceful land and drive out the treacherous and despicable Han puppets!

Tuo Junjing was not qualified to command the palace guards, but he still controlled a certain amount of the outer city's garrison forces within Gaegyeong. The reason the Han Chinese did not completely strip all the surrendered Goryeo generals of their military power was to leave some pretext to appease the people and unite the local Goryeo population, so as not to provoke too much resistance from the Goryeo people.

Therefore, Taku Jun-kyung could help Han Kyung-hwa's people get close to the palace gates and even facilitate his ascent over the outer palace walls, and could also provide tools.

But once Han Qinghe's men entered the palace walls, what would happen inside was beyond Tuo Junjing's ability to help.

To be honest, Han Qinghe and Tuo Junjing chose a pretty good time, because at this time, Zhao Zicheng went to welcome and inspect Yue Fei. Neither Zhao Zicheng nor Yue Fei had returned to Kaesong yet, and the guard force at Songaksan in Kaesong was indeed in a relatively weak state.

Although the Han Chinese forces had an overwhelming numerical advantage, the Jin soldiers still had a chance of kidnapping Wang Kai if they could gather a few dozen skilled warriors for a surprise attack. Faced with such immense wealth, risking a group of elite warriors was not a big deal.

In any case, the Jin Kingdom wasn't afraid of losing diplomatic face if the plan failed and was exposed; they didn't care about that at all. As for the death of dozens of chivalrous swordsmen and warriors, that was nothing compared to the gains.

That evening, with Tuo Junjing's help, Han Qinghe himself did not move. He sent his son Han Chang, along with the Jurchen general Jia Gu Atuhan, to lead a team of Yan Yun heroes. They scaled the outer palace wall of Songyue Mountain, intending to thoroughly investigate the truth and, ideally, kidnap Wang Kai as well, so that the Han people would lose their claim and the Jin dynasty could advance unimpeded.

However, just as the Jin experts infiltrated Songyue Mountain, a mad old man in his sixties living in the rear hall intuitively sensed something was amiss.

-

P.S.: I've written six or seven thousand words. I'm taking a day off tomorrow for the Dragon Boat Festival.

I've never written such outlandish and bizarre plots before, but since this book has achieved such good results and I wrote it quickly, I plan to challenge my structural and creative abilities from time to time. The style might be a bit chaotic, but I don't care about the results anyway. I'll just experiment more, and that's it.

On June 2nd, we should be able to return to the perspective of the Song-Jin War. These two chapters will also address the previous question raised by some readers: "The situation in Goryeo has changed for two years, how could the Jin Kingdom not have noticed?" So I want to challenge my ability to use cunning to deceive the world, and also add some things that will make people slap their thighs in admiration.

If you find the art style unusual, you can skip this chapter and come back on June 3rd to read the latest chapter.

(End of this chapter)